Sheeman h



( No Model.) 1

S. H. HUBBARD & S. S. WILLIAMSON.

BUSTLE.

No. 372,800. PatentedNov. s, 1887.

. M40 WM A N. PLIERS, Phom-Lilhognphcn Washinglcu. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHERMAN H. HUBBARD AND SAMUEL S. WILLIAMSON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO THOMAS P. TAYLOR, OF SAME PLACE.

BUSTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,800, dated November 8, 1887.

Application filed August 25 1887. Serial No. 247,832. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SHERMAN H. HUBBARD and SAMUEL S. WILLIAMSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Irnprovements in Bustles; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in bustles, but more particularly does it appertain to bustles embodying the folding or collapsing principle; and the object of our invention is to provide a construction which shall be cheap and simple, which shall possess strength, combined with lightness,

, and which shall dispense with any eyes or pro- 20 jections which might inflict injury upon the person of the wearer when in a seated or reclining posture.

With these ends in'view our invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter set forth, and then recited in the claims.

To the end that such as are skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may fully understand how to make the same, we will describe our device in detail, reference beinghad o 3 part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a perspective of a bustle embodying our spring principle; Fig. 2, a detail perspective of the spring in its collapsed or 5 folded position; Fig. 3, a detail of a modified construction of spring, and Fig. 4 a detail exhibiting the lateral adjusting feature of the spring. 7

Like parts are indicated by like numbers in all the figures.

' That portion of our bustle which serves to distend the draperies of the dress preferably consists of a series of bows, 1, hinged to side stays, 2, said bows being connected by a check strap or tape, 3, and adapted to fold upward to the accompanying drawings, which form a 5 6, which lie against the wearer,and which we preferably use to properly stiflen the side stays, the spring-hoop 7, whose action tends to throw the distending-bows downward and outward, and the spring proper,8,we prefer to construct from a single piece of round or other resilient wire, employing the torsional twist of the latter around its axis to furnish the proper spring action. In the construction, Figs. 1 and 2, the wire passes across from the bottom of one upright,5, to the base of the other upright, 6, then out and around to form the hoop 7, then back across and up, the end constituting the uprights 6. At the transverse crossing of the wires between the lower ends of the uprights said wires are intertwisted, for the double purpose of holding them together and of securing a very simple sliding adj ustment,whereby the bustle may be varied in width. (See Fig. 4.) The hoop 7 is secured to the end of the check-tape, and preferably serves as the lowest bow of the construction.

When the bustle is collapsed and the hoops turned upward by reason of the seating of the wearer, axial torsional strain is imparted to the transverse wires, which we call the spring 8, and this torsion, when the wearer rises,causes the hoop 7 to return downward and outward, pulling the bows after it and thereby properly distending the dress.

In Fig. 3'we do not carry the transverse wires entirely across between the uprights, but only to a point about midway between their bases, where they are interlaced and extended outward in form of a spring member, 9, which is connected to the check-tape or lower distending bow and takes the place of the spring-hoop of the other figures. The vertical wires can be bent together at their tops to form a bow, if desired, in which case they are independent of the side stays.

We do not desire in our-invention to be limited to the precise details of construction herein shown, since several minor variations of bending might be employed without departing from the spirit of our invention,which contemplates the crossing of the wires between the stiff vertical stays and the employment of the torsional action of the wires so crossed to control the position of the distending bows.

Ve do not deem it essential that the upright wires shall be incorporated in the side stays or be made integral with the crossed springwires and hoop,although that is our preferred construction. The wire, moreover, may be of round, square, or oval section.

\Vc desire in this connection to refer to certain pending applications filed by us, and whose subjeetmatter is somewhat analogous to that herein set forth. Said applications bear serial numbers 247,833 and 248,048, filed August 25, 1887, and August 27, 1887, respectively.

lVe claim-- 1. A bustle consisting of the following elements, viz: awaistband, two vertical members depending therefrom, the transverse intertwisted wiresjoining the bases of the vertical members, and the outwardly-extendinghoop, provided with means whereby its position is controlled by the torsional action of the said transverse wires, as specified.

2. The combiuation,with the waistband, the

side stays, and the distending bows, of the vertical wire uprights, the transversely-extended and intertwistedspring-wires joining thebases of the uprights, and the outwardly-extending hoop connected to and controlling the hinged bows, the upright side stays, spring-sections,

and hoop being formed from a single piece of In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

SHERMAN H. HUBBARD. SAMUEL S. WILLIAMSON. \Vitnesses:

E. S. BANKS, WINTHROP H. PERRY. 

